Knight in the Dark
by smile1
Summary: Bella/Edward one piece-- "Something's happening," Edward said while snapping out of his casual stance, his eyes never leaving her. He had repressed the twinge of jealousy he had felt, liking how happy she seemed, but this was different.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the movie _Twilight_ or any of the books. Same goes for the character. Only the plot is of my creation.**

**A/N: **It should be noted that I haven't written anything, no fanfics or fiction in ages. This story itself has been on my computer unfinished for weeks; however, I really felt like writing again and this is what came out of that. I loved the movie and how it brought the characters from the books to life, and I hope I managed to do that as well. Just a little bit. I hope you like it.

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**Knight in the Dark**

He followed her movements almost religiously, amazed at how much she looked like one of them while still among the living. Her fair skin and striking features were illuminated sharply from above and made her stand out in the body of anonymous faces. Her eyes were concealed from his view by her dark chocolate locks, unruly as they were thoughtlessly cast aside during her movements. Frustration and adoration tore him down the middle. It was a very human emotion intertwined with a more wonderful one, the first one a result of him having no access to her mind or eyes, while the second was slowly taking over when he realized that he could still tell enough about her to satisfy. For instance, that he now knew that somewhere in her past she had taken ballet lessons. Just enough for it to still be clear when she gracefully spun around or elegantly raised her arms above her head. It made him smile and her even more mesmerizing to watch.

Edward's eyes didn't leave Bella for a second. He ignored Emmett's remarks and Jasper's warnings, uncaring and content for as long as she would allow. Every now and then he would look for her friends in the crowd or drop his gaze down to what she wearing only to disapprove of both. Bella's classmates had left her to herself as soon as they had come through the door while her outfit was too unlike her to appreciate, although he did like the dark purple on her.

Emmett rolled his eyes when his brother's gaze intensified. "Count on you to fall for the human."

"Something's happening," Edward said while snapping out of his casual stance, his eyes never leaving her.

Emmett rolled his eyes again but kept his mouth shut as he came to stand next to Edward. Meanwhile Jasper appeared out of the dark.

Edward hadn't paid any attention to the several guys that had asked Bella to dance throughout the night, their intentions harmless and playful. He hadn't stepped in because she had enjoyed the innocent attention, dancing close but never touching. He had repressed the twinge of jealousy he had felt, liking how happy she seemed, but this was different. This guy was different.

"What is he thinking, Edward?" Jasper wondered, keeping a close watch on Bella as he did a quick reading of her emotions. "She's harder to read than usual," he informed Edward.

"She's been drinking."

"Last time I checked they didn't serve minors, no matter how alluring they are," Emmett continued with a lopsided grin aimed at his brother.

~*~

The man kicked open the rust-covered door while tugging her through it, out into the poorly lit alley behind the club. It was the setting of many scenes that she had flicked through on TV and sat through in the movie theater. She tried to pull her arm free, not too roughly, wanting to make him think that she was clueless about his seedy intentions. But his grip was solid and he only manoeuvred her further away from the club's backdoor.

"It's okay," he solaced her and pressing his other hand against the small of her back. It made her jump. She didn't like the way the bottom of his palm was touching a strip of her bare back.

"Hey, hey," he continued, his voice severely calm, a reflection of his conscience that had grown surprisingly numb at his actions. It wasn't the first time he had lured a too young girl out under the falsehood of helpfulness. "It's okay," he repeated. "I just want to introduce you to some of my friends. They will help you feel more comfortable," he said while gently pulling her to a halt. His hand had found its way under her short now and his skin felt unpleasant on her back. Coarse and impervious to movement, not the way it was supposed to feel.

Men appeared out of nowhere, their presence having been cloaked by the shadows up until now. They formed a semi-circle around her and their friend. "What's going on?" Bella inquired, feigning naivety, but hoping to buy time with it so she could figure out something to do, some way to escape.

"Relax, they're here for you. … Comply and nothing will happen to you," he told her determinedly and more forcefully keeping her in place now that she was beginning to form a reaction to what was going on.

She didn't fight, knowing that it would only spur them on and make things move more quickly. She needed the time, clung to it desperately because she realized that she didn't know what to do. She opened her mouth to speak, hoping that she would be able to reason with them, come to some sort of compromise... But no words came tumbling out like she expected them to. What was she thinking? She wouldn't be able to reason with them, not with people who were willing to do something like this. She shut her mouth and her eyes soon followed. Maybe if she went and crawled into the midst of her analytical mind she would mentally tune out.

It didn't work. It just heightened her senses and she could still hear them around her: breathing, talking, whispering... When she heard the door open behind her, she took another deep breath, expecting the worst with the luck that she had.

"What's going on here?"

The men's attention all snapped to the owner of the voice. Bella felt herself being spun around as the guy holding her did the same, and she opened her eyes to the three guys standing across from them. She recognized them from school, but could only remember the name of the bronze-haired one with the velvety voice: Edward.

"Nothing that concerns you," the guy holding her told them.

"Yeah, go mind your own business!" another one yelled.

"I'm afraid we can't," Edward calmly said. "She concerns us."

"She's with us." Jasper took a step forwards and looked straight at the guy that had his hands on Bella.

"How about we share, then? We're not complete bastards, you know." The guy holding Bella shot them a grin and she struggled against his hold, scared.

Jasper shook his head. "It's going to be okay," he directed at Bella before looking at the others again. "I'm afraid we can't accept your offer."

"Yeah, we hate to crash the party, but if you don't let her go then you're going to have to suffer the consequences," the biggest out of the three brothers said. "And don't say we didn't warn you."

"Let her go," Edward chimed in, his tone more aggressive this time.

The guy holding Bella looked from them to his friends and back to them again. He nodded. "Whatever you say."

She was thrown to the floor—harshly, like a crumpled up piece of paper. She fell quickly, barely having enough time to break her fall and was unable to save herself the cuts and bruises. It was her arm that endured the most and worst: a long thin cut, a clean slice, the blood mixing with dirt the longer she stayed down.

She wasn't ready to move, but did as she caught another figure approaching her. It was a male figure and that was all that mattered. She was only on her knees when the boy with the dirty blond hair and pale skin leaned over her, close enough to make contact but too far away to touch her if choosing to. There was something angelic about the sharp contrast between his waxen complexion and the darkness he was enveloped in. He was serenely radiant, perhaps even more so than his brothers. "Bella, are you okay?" Jasper asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

He caught her completely off guard by using her name. She didn't think she knew him. Her eyes widened while his eyes flew past hers, having seen and smelled the blood before he had asked her about her well-being. She followed his eyes down to her arm and nodded. She expected him to help her up and she would allow him to because she had decided on the spot that she could trust him. The feeling wasn't really based on anything. But he didn't and she settled all of her weight back down on her knees, grimacing as she slightly shifted her arm and rested it on her lap.

She raised her head a little, the scene in the background reeling her back into the moment. Her eyes flew from the small hostile assemblage of men to the single outline of the man who had led her out of the club mere minutes ago, although the passing of time had considerably slowed in her mind. It had been under the pretence of the air doing her good all the while apologizing for the drinks he had bought her despite her being not old enough to drink. She remembered telling him that she was underage, but he had brushed it off and said that one drink wouldn't hurt. Or two. It would help her acclimate to her surroundings. It had been so stupid on her part.

Bella moaned, the blood, her throbbing arm, the drinks, together with the realization of this being just a little bit her own fault getting the best of her as started feeling sick.

"I think it's time to take her home. She doesn't look so well," someone observed. The faux concern came from one of the faces in the group while another one took a step toward her. What Bella thought was a gnarl stopped him in his tracks.

"I think you've done enough."

"Not quite," the guy standing alone and facing Edward disagreed. "Why is it of your concern anyway? She's just another underage girl. She shouldn't be here to begin with."

"So, what, this is your twisted way of teaching her a lesson?!" Emmett exclaimed, fists tightly balled and eyes almost black.

"We advise you to leave … while you can," Edward hissed the last words.

A growl escaped Emmett's lips and the guy across from Edward lifted both hands in defeat, having lost his former courage. "Okay. We'll leave." He exchanged a look with the other guys and they began to scatter and dissolve. He leered over at Bella one last time before disappearing himself. "You still owe me for those drinks."

"She doesn't owe you a thing," Edward replied, his lips curling up to reveal his teeth in anger.

"I wouldn't show my face around here anymore if I were you," Emmett threatened.

Edward and Emmett stood side to side and didn't relax their defensive stands until all of them men had left the alleyway.

"Edward," Jasper called his brother over. "Could you help Bella up?" He motioned at her arm and made room so Edward could get to her.

Bella shook her head and got onto her feet before anyone could touch her.

"How's your arm?"

"Yeah, it looks pretty bad," Emmett remarked and got a look from Edward.

"Carlisle should take a look at it," Jasper advised.

"It's fine. My arm's fine." Bella looked down at her arm and drew her bottom lip in with her teeth. "Charlie's going to kill me."

Emmett rolled his eyes playfully and repeated her words, "Charlie's going to kill her. Did you hear that guys, Charlie's going to kill her." Edward threw him a quick but pointed look and Emmett dropped his smile. "We'll go get the car."

Jasper nodded. "We won't be long."

Edward waited until his brothers' backs were turned before putting his eyes back on the girl in front of him.

Bella didn't move, his gaze so penetrating that it pinned her to the spot she was standing, and finding that she couldn't look away. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out but a couple of shallow breaths. Her cheeks darkened in color and she finally managed to turn her head away in embarrassment.

"You sure your arm's okay?" he slightly teased.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just a scrape. Thanks," she quickly added, wanting to avoid an awkward silence.

He nodded in acceptance. "You're lucky we were close by."

"I know. It was stupid of me to—"

"It was. Those guys… Bella, if you knew what they were planning to do to you." Edward stopped talking, not having to scare her anymore after what she had just gone through. "Just be more careful from now on. We won't always be around, you know," he told her, though he couldn't hide the sentiment from softening his sharp features. He would always be around. ''Come on," he said, motioning at the car behind him.

She started to follow, but stopped mid step. "I don't really know you," she reminded him and herself. "I appreciate what you and your brothers did, but… I would feel more comfortable if I just walked home."

Edward shook his head. "You don't honestly think that I would let you walk home by yourself after what just happened to you."

"My friends. I came with my friends," Bella remembered. "They can drive me."

"Yeah, because they were really paying attention to you. Plus, your arm—"

"I can't just leave," Bella interrupted. "They might have been a little self-involved tonight, but they did drive me here. They asked me to come. And my arm's fine. We have a first-aid kit at home."

"Fine." Edward gave up. He held his hand out to her and rolled his eyes when she didn't get it. "Your cell phone. I assume you have one since I don't think Charlie would have let you out the house without one."

"Yeah, but…" she trailed off while struggling to get her phone out of her pocket.

"Because I want you to call me as soon as you get home," he answered, taking the phone off her and putting his own number in. "Or at least when things settle down." He gave her the phone back.

"I can do that," she agreed.

"I'll walk you to the door," Edward offered, resting his hand lightly against the small of her back. He expected her to shy away, and although his touch was cold, she leaned in to him as they walked over to the door. He gently pushed her through, knowing that she'd rather stay, but kept an eye on her until she had safely reached one of her friends. He waited until all of them had formed a small protective circle around her before he closed the door.

He knew she would be okay, but that wouldn't stop him from checking up on her tonight.

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**Please review? **It took me a while to publish it and I would really love some feedback on it. Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully review.


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